Dear Flower Girl
by Fortune Maiden
Summary: Larxene doesn't remember the past. Larxene doesn't want to remember the past. And she especially doesn't want to think about some girl she may or may not have known once. [Companion Piece to Dear Strelitzia]
1. Nothing

**A/N**: Hello again :)

To those who've read "Dear Strelitzia": Welcome! This fic is intended to flesh out some context behind Larxene's letters because she did not feel like writing it herself. Both this chapter and the next one are intended to be standalone pieces that take place between Letters 7 & 8.

To those who haven't read "Dear Strelitzia": Welcome! I hope you're still willing to check out this fic and all you really need to know for context is that Elrena wrote letters to Strelitzia and Larxene has vague memories of this.

* * *

**Dear Flower Girl**

_Larxene doesn't remember the past. Larxene doesn't want to remember the past. _

_And she especially doesn't want to think about the girl she writes letters to._

* * *

_"Dear Flower Girl."_

Larxene says these words out loud as she writes, a clipboard and a pen in her hand.

It's been a while since her last letter—or rather, it's the first one since she'd lost her heart. She has nothing better to do, and the old timers told her before that keeping to her human routine as much as possible helped in the adjustment period. When she spotted a clipboard with a blank sheet earlier, she figured, why not.

_I turned into a Nobody._

The sentence comes out unusually slow for her, and Larxene frowns slightly before continuing. Logically she should explain what happened to her and what a Nobody actually is. She's also part of some cult-ish Organization now, so that would be prudent to mention too.

Larxene scribbles down a couple of paragraphs, pausing often, and rhythmically tapping her pen against the clipboard between sentences.

Oh right, she should talk about what the Organization actually does. She starts to write again.

_Preparations are still underway, but eventually we'll be sent to start defeating Heartless and collect hearts. When we gather enough_

Halfway through the sentence, the pen freezes. Larxene stares down at the words she's written so far in a trance. For the first time since she's written these letters, she's struck by writer's block. The letters are about nothing. She's always just written whatever was on her mind, and she's pretty sure there's still plenty in there now. But the words that always flowed so easily for her don't come.

She feels nothing.

She pulls out the paper, kicks her feet up on the couch in the Grey Area, and holds the letter up to the light. She squints at it, turns it over a few times, rereads it until the few paragraphs she did write can be recited backwards, and it's this position Marluxia finds her in some time later.

If he has any thoughts about it, he doesn't display them, instead voicing a polite, "Good afternoon, Larxene," and walking over to her. He eyes the pen on the table and the letter in the air. "Writing something?"

"Not anymore," she says brusquely, and swings back into a seated position. Marluxia takes it as a cue to sit in the chair beside her. "The creative juices just aren't flowing."

"Oh? What were you writing?"

"A letter," she replies. It's none of his business, she thinks, but out of everyone she's met in the Organization, Marluxia is the least annoying by far, and easy enough to talk to. He's an epitome of grace and poise, never reacting to any of her outbursts or swears. It both flatters her, and makes her want to know what she has to say to get some sort of rise from him.

He just stares at her with that princely smile of his. "Oh? I didn't realize you still had someone to send letters to."

She rolls her eyes.

"I _don't_. This letter isn't for anyone…well, not anyone _real_ anyway. Just some flower girl."

It's not a rise, but Marluxia raises a brow as if prompting her further. Larxene shrugs and shoves the paper at him. If there's something strange about handing over something that is almost like a diary, she doesn't care. Her letters were hardly a secret when she was a human, and there's nothing written down that hasn't been said aloud on at least two occasions.

She feels nothing.

It's not clear to her if Marluxia actually reads the letter, because his eyes seem transfixed on one spot. "Why a "Flower Girl"?" he asks.

"Dunno. Because she's a girl, and liked flowers or something. Good enough for me."

"Past tense."

"Boy, nothing slips by you, does it?" Larxene finds the bemusement on his face oddly entertaining, so she leans closer. "Wanna hear a secret? The thing is, I have no memories."

"Amnesia?" Marluxia frowns. "Since you became a Nobody?"

"Oh no, that stuff's still all fresh in my mind," she says. "No, I mean years ago. One day I just suddenly woke up on the streets and _poof!_ Nothing."

Her words seem to have some effect on Marluxia's usual mask as he suddenly leans forward as well, as if hoping to speak in a whisper. It's unlikely that anyone will warp in on them, but Larxene plays along. "Nothing? How could that be?"

"Couldn't tell you," she whispers back. "No one knew who I was or where I came from…" suddenly, she snorts. "Yaknow, I didn't know any better back then, but now I wonder if I just came from another world. One of those 'plunged into darkness_'_ ones. Bet that'll fuck with anyone's head."

Marluxia's agreement is a strained smile.

"But anyway, the only thing I could really remember was some girl who may or may not have liked flowers, and that I apparently wrote letters to her. Just feels right when I do it, so I do." Although Larxene's eyes fall on the letter still in Marluxia's hand, and she silently affirms that she really didn't feel anything writing it. Because she became a Nobody?

Marluxia nods along with her story. There's something thoughtful in his expression, but Larxene doesn't care enough to press it. It's enough for her that he doesn't stare in pity like everyone else who ever heard her tragic tale.

"And there's truly nothing else you know about her?" he asks.

"Not a thing," Larxene confirms. Then looking at Marluxia a little more carefully, she smirks. This topic was getting too heavy for her liking. "Hey, don't you have plant powers? With that face, maybe _you're _the Flower Girl I'm writing to."

Marluxia chuckles. Feigned or not, he has a nice laugh, Larxene thinks. "I should think I'm a little too tall to be a flower girl," he tells her. "But I would be charmed to receive a letter from you."

"Yeah, not happening, bucko," Larxene retorts playfully with a roll of her eyes. "I don't send these things. I don't even care about them. Honestly, whoever the old me was, she was a total sap, writing these stupid letters."

"And yet, you still write them," Marluxia points out with a soft smile, and hands back her sheet. Larxene takes it, and stares at it.

When the lost little amnesiac girl wrote her first letter, she'd still felt hope that her memories could return. They obviously didn't, but the hope refused to die with each new letter. Elrena hadn't even had that many things to write about. But if she went too long without doing so, her heart would painfully yearn for it.

Larxene doesn't have a heart.

She grins. "Yep, I sure do," she says, and carefully sets her letter down on the table, placing her pen on top as a paperweight. Marluxia gets up.

"I should leave you to it then," he says kindly. "Thank you for your company today."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, hope my little story entertained you," Larxene remarks. She doesn't add that she's grateful for his ear as well. He should be able to figure it out based on the fact that she still plans to voluntarily speak to him after this.

"Yes," Marluxia says. "I hope you get past your writer's block."

"Oh yeah, I'm not worried about that _aaaaat_ all." She gives him her best innocent smile. Marluxia returns it, and vanishes in a cloud of darkness.

Left alone, Larxene leans back against the couch with a sigh, and stares up the high white ceilings for a while, as if waiting to see if anyone else with appear.

Then she takes her pen, and in small neat letters adds two words to the bottom of the page. Satisfied, she crumples up the paper, opens up a small portal, and pitches it into the darkness.

She feels nothing.

_~Nothing: Fin~_

* * *

**A/N**: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! :D

While brainstorming Dear Strelitzia, I was originally going to alternate between letters and prose to give context to some of the scenes... except that made things really long and I only planned prose scenes between some letters which also made things really lopsided. But I still liked a couple of those scenes so I decided to separate them out (hope this is alright haha!). Writing epistolary fic is very new for me so I'm not sure how much setting I was able to really convey in the letters, especially Larxene's. Hopefully extra scenes like this won't be needed in any future epistolary fics I try to write ^^"

But also, I just wanted to write more Larxene and Marluxia. I like this ship I like writing them haha.

Again, thanks for reading! :D


	2. Something

_"You four are going to reveal your greatest secret: the ancient Keyblade legacy that slumbers within you."_

Long after the words have been spoken, they continue to replay in that mocking tone of Xemnas'. _Utter bullshit_, Larxene thinks as she absently kicks at a pebble by her feet. She toys with it for a few seconds, before Xemnas' smirk flashes in her mind, and she angrily kicks it off the pillar with all of her strength. It hits the neighboring stone with a satisfying _plink_.

She doesn't want to be here. She wants to go use some Dusk or Heartless or Keyblade wielder for target practice. But when they were all teleporting away after the big reveal, Marluxia had given her a meaningful look before disappearing. So she came back.

Marluxia takes his sweet time reappearing on his pillar, but whatever rant Larxene built up in her head for him dies when she meets his eyes. His face is placid, but his eyes hide a thoughtful fury.

"Hey," Larxene greets him, a sinister smile finding its way forward. "Ready to rebel?"

A similar grin graces his features, but rather than agree, he says, "What did you think?"

Straight to the point as always. Larxene rolls her eyes.

"About what Xemnas said? Please, it's all bs." She rubs at her arm. "Don't tell me you're buying into this fairytale?"

"Hmm."

"No," Larxene cuts him off. "It's not true, and I can prove it. "Ancient Keyblade legacy"? What, is he suggesting we were _Keyblade wielders?_ Us? _Demyx?_" She shakes her head furiously, and digs her nails into her arm. "No, even forget the dumbass. What about me? Who in their right mind would give _me_ a Keyblade?"

She'd hoped Marluxia would quickly see her point, but instead, the thoughtful gaze remains.

"I assure you, I am loathe to agree with Xemnas," he says. "But there was something about his words that unsettled me. I was hoping I might ask you something."

"Go ahead," Larxene tells him. "But again, if it's my opinion on this whole hubbub I—

"Do you still write to the Flower Girl?"

The question catches her so off-guard, that she shuts her mouth instantly. She immediately fixes Marluxia with a perplexed look, not unlike the one she gave Xemnas earlier.

"_What._"

"Do you remember that conversation we had, I suppose, almost three years ago now? About a letter you were writing?"

"Of course, I _remember_. What I don't understand is why it has anything to do with anything now," Larxene snarls and starts rubbing at her arm again. "I haven't written any letters in years. I haven't even _thought _about that stupid Flower Girl since our chat that time."

"Is that right? Pity."

Marluxia's response is detached, but Larxene senses he'd been hoping for a different answer.

"What's the big deal?" she asks.

"No big deal," Marluxia assures her. "I was simply curious. The real thing I wanted to ask was if you remembered what you said to me back then? About the reason you wrote those letters."

"Well it sounds like you do, so you hardly need me to remind you," Larxene retorts and examines her sleeve coat carefully. She spots a loose string and starts to pick at it. She knows the event Marluxia's referencing, but hell if she recalls the actual details. She's not quite sure what to think about him remembering so clearly.

"You told me you wrote those letters, because you felt it was something you always did," he explains. "Something you did before you lost your _memories_ one day."

Now Larxene gets it. She whips her head around to face him, and the temperature around them plummets. But rather than lose her temper, Larxene just starts to laugh hysterically.

"Are you serious?" she cackles. "Is _that _why you're wasting brain cells on this at all? Because _I _lost my memories once upon a time? Get real."

"Larxene."

"Don't "Larxene" me," she snaps. "You think just because I got whacked on the head once, it's _related _to Xemnas' ominous bullshit? It's not. It's absolutely not. I know it's not!"

She doesn't realize she's shaking until Marluxia suddenly teleports right beside her and grips her shoulder supportively. Were it anyone else, she'd have cut their hand off, but at Marluxia, she just glares.

"It's alright," he whispers. "I apologize. I did not mean to upset you."

"I'm not _upset_," she hisses, because she's supposed to be an emotionless husk, and emotionless husks don't get upset.

"Were your history the only thing, I'd have ignored it," Marluxia continues. "But you see, you're not the only one."

Larxene's eyes widen, and suddenly she's grateful for the support. "You mean…?"

"Yes," Marluxia confirms. "I too lost all my memories years ago."

For once Larxene is at a loss for words. A million thoughts race through her head.

"…Shit."

"Indeed." Fury flashes across his eyes again as he stares into the distance. "I wouldn't be surprised if this is true for the others as well."

"Should we confirm it?"

"If you'd like to," Marluxia tells her, but it sounds to her like his mind's made up already.

"Why have you never told me this before?" Larxene asks.

"It didn't seem relevant, so I saw no need to talk about it."

"You always did like to hold your cards close," she remarks. "Not that I blame you. If you had told me, I probably would have let it slip by the end of the week." Impulsive blabbing was a bit of a bad habit of hers, after all.

"On the contrary," Marluxia says with a rueful smile. "If it had become common knowledge, perhaps we could have unearthed some of these secrets earlier."

"Perhaps. No use thinking about it now though," Larxene says. Marluxia finally releases his hold on her, and she steps back arms crossed. She doesn't want to think about this. She had long accepted that her past was lost, and she never wanted it back. She still doesn't.

"If I may be honest," Marluxia says suddenly. "I think I was always a little envious of you and your Flower Girl. Tenuous though it was, you still had some sort of link to your past."

"Fat load of good that's done me," Larxene retorts. But she is curious now, so she presses. "You don't remember anything then?"

"No," Marluxia's voice is quiet and firm.

"Well, you're not missing out," Larxene says bluntly. Though her tone keeps its sarcastic edge, she does mean every word. "All those letters were was some chain tying me down. Some things I'd do would just _feel _right, but I had no context for any of it. And at the same time, I couldn't _stop_ because that really was all I had, and my heart couldn't bear to let it go. I once told you I liked being a Nobody because I was comfortable. When I lost that unfamiliar heart, I lost all those anxieties as well. I stopped writing to the Flower Girl because I no longer needed to. For the first time, I started to truly feel like myself. I guess I was…_unchained_."

Something about that word stings, and Marluxia must feel it too, because suddenly his eyes are wide and though his attention is on Larxene, it's as if he's looking past her.

That moment fades though, and Marluxia sighs. "Well when you put it like that, I find myself at a loss," he says. "And yet, I do feel I know exactly what you mean."

"Oh?"

"Your Flower Girl," Marluxia says looking ahead. His eyes cloud with sadness. "I wonder if I might have known her too…"

* * *

**A/N**: If not for me wanting to keep it tied to Dear Streltizia, I would have probably written this out as a separate fic haha. I really wanted a Larxene & Marluxia scene post-Interval 6.

That was a pretty big reveal to process!

Anyway, thank you again for reading! See you next fic!


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